While SFF has gradually been including a broader selection of fully formed female characters - as opposed to the sexy lamps, girls in refrigerators and 2D love interests of earlier speculative fiction decades - there is still one aspect that appears to elude our grasp. The vast majority of female characters have to be mostly 'nice' (unless very obviously the villain.)  This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at why this is still prevalent and why it causes problems. On the slab this week - The Witcher, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson and many more.

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic